Hi Folks, Been guiding with the spin gear the last couple of days for bass. Mixing it up between river fishing and the still water with my boat. In between I did venture onto the Lamoille early one morning with guest to chase trout with the fly. Water temperatures are slowly rising but still remain somewhat cool for August. I was telling a friend the other day how this fishing season has bee so good in that I use all of my water. He was like huh??? Well, July and August our my busiest months of guiding. I will do between 60 to 75 trips in the 2 month span. That require a lot of water for fishing as you do not want to fish in the same place and spot time and time again. With the cool water temperatures and higher than average levels I have been able use my entire arsenal of water. Most times in July and August the water warms up significantly and many of the big water trout spots become unfishable due to water temperatures in excess of 70 degrees. The upper Lamoille was 62 degrees Wednesday morning and 72 degrees in the late afternoon. The surface temperature of the lake we fished yesterday was 71 degrees. For bugs, I have been seeing #22-#24 Tricos every morning, #10 Epherons at dusk, and some #18-#20 micro caddis in the morning. Found smallmouths slurping Epherons the other night. The river bass fishing has been out of sight good. Dead drifting 3" and 4" baby bass colored Senkos has been very productive. Bigger 5" Senkos in watermelon red magic have tempted the largemouth bass in the lake we fished yesterday. A lot of subtle takes from big fish. I cant emphasize enough how important line control is in this style of fishing. No different that having good line control with the fly rod when drifting a fly. When the fish takes it is tricky to get the hook set with too much slack line. Not to mention just the ability to detect the take. Well, the fishing has been good. I am off to watch clients tug on some bass. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
